When building the ideal bra wardrobe, we need to start at the beginning with the first type of bra everyone must have, the everyday bra. This is the bra that you can reach for each day without even thinking about it. You know it will work with your outfit and will not show underneath your clothes. You can wear this bra all day without even noticing you have it on.

Let’s talk about the fit, style and color that put this bra into the every day category. You can get a refresher on fit from “The Best Fitting Bra” post. Needless to say fit is the first requirement for every bra. For the every day bra, you should place a premium on support and comfort. This is a bra that you are going to have on most days, all day long so it really needs to hold everything in place and it must do so comfortably. A supportive bra that is not comfortable is not a bra you ever want to wear!

In terms of the style, the everyday bra provides good coverage of the breasts so they remain securely in place and you don’t have to worry about any unintended exposure. The degree of coverage recommended is a function of your body type and personal preference. Smaller breasted women may prefer less coverage on top of the breasts and some exposed cleavage, while larger breasted women may want to conceal cleavage and have the feeling of security that full enclosure of the breast tissue provides. The point is that the style of the basic bra keeps your breasts covered and enclosed. The cups of this bra may be seamless pre-molded foam for maximum invisibility under close fitting clothing, but cross cup seamed cups are fine under most garments as well with the bonus of offering more style variation choices.

The color of the every day bra is close to the color of your skin. This allows the bra to go under pale colors and whites without being on show. Yes, there is a place for showy bras in your wardrobe but for most of us that is not an everyday look. While I recommend a skin color for every day wear, if your wardrobe is all dark colors you can select nearly any color you want (a solid bright white being the only color that should be selected with care since white nearly always shows under clothing).

Turning to fabrics, the everyday bra does not have to be from a solid beige stretch fabric (think beige foam cup bra), it can be made from lace or even silk. For summer, you may even want a bra made from moisture wicking fabric to keep your body dry. You are also not locked into a solid color. A subtle pattern of neutrals is a possibility. The everyday bra does not need to be boring!

While I am using the word “everyday” to describe this bra, I certainly do not recommend you wear the same bra every day. You can review my post on “Bra Care & Maintenance” to see why this is not a good idea. I recommend a minimum of 5 everyday bras since they should be washed after wearing once (maximally twice) and I am guessing that no one really wants to wash a bra every night. If you want to go longer than a week without doing your hand washing, get more of these bras to add to your drawer. If you enjoy doing your hand washing more often, you can get away with fewer of these.

Since I am hard at work on a sports bra design, and they are an important part of my bra wardrobe, that is the next bra up for discussion as part of creating the ideal bra wardrobe.